The Ovambo make up about half of Namibia's people.
The Ovambo, Kavango, and East Caprivian peoples, who
occupy the relatively well-watered and wooded northern
part of the country, are settled farmers and herders.
Historically, they have shown little interest in the
central and southern parts of Namibia, where conditions
do not suit their traditional way of life.

Until the early 1900s, these tribes had little contact
with the Nama, Damara, and Herero, who roamed the
central part of the country vying for control of sparse
pastureland. German colonial rule destroyed the warmaking
ability of the tribes but did not erase their identities
or traditional organization. People from the more
populous north have settled throughout the country
in recent decades as a result of urbanization, industrialization,
and the demand for labor.

The modern mining, farming, and industrial sectors
of the economy, controlled by the white minority,
have affected traditional African society without
transforming it. Urban and migratory workers have
adopted Western ways, but in rural areas, traditional
society remains intact.

Missionary work during
the 1800s drew many Namibians to Christianity. While
most Namibian Christians are Lutheran, there also
are Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, African Methodist
Episcopal, and Dutch Reformed Christians represented.

Modern education
and medical care have been extended in varying degrees
to most rural areas in recent years. The literacy
rate of Africans is generally low except in sections
where missionary and government education efforts
have been concentrated, such as Ovamboland. The Africans
speak various indigenous languages.

The minority white
population is primarily of South African, British,
and German descent, with a few Portuguese. About 60%
of the whites speak Afrikaans (a language derived
from 17th century Dutch), 32% speak German, and 7%
speak English.

Demographics of Namibia, Data
of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Population: 1,927,447
(July, 2003 est.), 1,771,327 (July 2002 est.)
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into
account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS;
this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant
mortality and death rates, lower population and growth
rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected